Space
by Bm89
Summary: "It's been awhile since I was buying for someone his age... I might've overdone it a little." Holiday-ish one shot. Tuckson. Enjoy!


##

She had just made it past the first chapter of a new book when three soft knocks in rapid succession broke through her concentration. She paused, eyes toward the door as she waited to see if there would be more, or if the knocking had just been a figment of her imagination, a sign that the week really _had_ been every bit as long as it seemed. Hearing them again, _knock knock knock_ , she put her e-reader on the coffee table, untangled herself from the blanket she'd covered herself with and made her way to the source of the noise.

Olivia readjusted her oversized sweater as she padded softly to the front door, willing away the small pit of nerves that settled in her stomach. It was late for an unexpected visitor, and she hadn't buzzed anyone into her building.

Looking through the peephole, she released a small sigh of relief to see Ed shifting his feet on the other side of the door. She opened it wide enough to allow him inside, and leaned her head against the edge of the wood as she regarded him.

"Hey, you," she greeted him softly. "Why didn't you use your key?"

"Hey." He leaned toward her, and she grasped his arm as his lips brushed over the skin of her cheek. She breathed in the scent of his aftershave, still lingering on his skin from his morning shave and felt the familiar tingle in her nerve-endings. "I wanted to make sure the little guy was asleep…"

"He's out like a light, why?" she asked, glancing back toward the iPad on the coffee table, aglow with the image of her sleeping son. She looked back at Ed, still hovering in her doorway, and her brow furrowed in confusion. He was acting weird.

Avoiding her question, Ed merely smirked before ducking back into the hallway.

"Ed," she said impatiently. "What's going on?" Olivia heard rustling in the hallway and took a step toward the noise; her curiosity peaked, before Ed reappeared, arms laden with bags emblazoned with the logo from the toy store down the street. She stepped aside, allowing him the space to set the bags down in her foyer, and her eyebrows shot up when she saw the volume of his purchases.

Toys and multicolored packaging poked out the top of the bags. Hot Wheels, Transformers, Star Wars – _almost_ anything and everything a young boy could ever dream to get for Christmas.

Shifting her weight on her feet and leaning against the door, she tilted her head and looked at him with a small, amused smile on her face. "What did you do?"

"I went Christmas shopping," he said simply. "It's been awhile since I was buying for someone his age…" Ed surveyed the damage that currently sat around his ankles in her foyer. "I might've overdone it a little," he shrugged sheepishly.

"I think that might be an understatement," she chuckled, moving to close the door before Ed reached out and stopped her, stepping over the threshold again as she gasped. "Don't tell me there's more…"

"Just a little," he admitted.

"Ed," Olivia admonished playfully, rolling her eyes as she finally shut her apartment door and looked at him, standing proudly amongst his loot. "Come on." She beckoned him with a smile, grabbing the nearest bags and leading the way to her bedroom. "Let's see how much of this we can fit in my closet…"

##

"So, tell me." Ed lifted his eyebrows and looked at her expectantly. "Was there anything left in the store when you were done?" Olivia teased him, settling back into the couch when they made their way back into the living room. They'd maxed out her closet space, between her clothes and her own Christmas gifts for her son, stashing the last of the toys on the upper shelves of her hall closet.

"Plenty," he replied drily. Olivia smiled up at him, shaking her head as she took a sip of her now lukewarm peppermint hot chocolate. He noticed the soft music coming from her iHome, the dark TV. "What were you up to?"

"I was just reading, nothing earth shattering. Are you staying?" It was a question, an invitation, a request.

"Do you want me to?" One eyebrow lifted in challenge.

Olivia eyed him sweetly. "I always want you to."

Ed could think of a few instances recently where he probably could have argued the sincerity of that statement, but smartly decided against it. Sometimes, she needed her space and that was okay, because sometimes he needed his, too. It made them have to work a little harder at their relationship sometimes; but on the other hand, he was sure that was at least part of why they worked so well to begin with.

Smirking, he shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on her coat rack before toeing his shoes off near the door and making his way back to her.

"Feels like it's been awhile," he muttered softly as he made himself comfortable on the couch next to her, pulling her into his side and rubbing her legs when she draped them across his lap.

Olivia hummed against him, lolling her head onto his upper arm and looking up at him until he turned, his eyes meeting hers.

"I've missed you," she said.

It was a weighty admission disguised by a simple declaration and, for a moment, words eluded him, wrapped up as he was in the warmth of her eyes. He'd missed her, too. More than he could've fathomed was possible; but it didn't seem like enough to tell her that.

Instead, he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers, suckling softly on her lower lip before pulling back, savoring the taste of her.

"What is that?" he asked curiously, licking his lips as he pulled away. "Mint?"

"Peppermint hot chocolate. Want some?" she chuckled.

He shook his head. "I'm sure it tastes better on you."

"Sweet talker," she quipped.

They fell into silence, though it was a comfortable one, listening to the soothing playlist that was a perfect backdrop to this quiet Friday night. The song switched to an instrumental version of _Silent Night_ and Olivia smiled against his shoulder.

"You know what this is missing?"

"What's that?"

"A fire," she said. "Even a fake one on the TV. I just think it would add to the ambiance, make this that much cozier."

Ed nodded. "Well, maybe…" he trailed off, and she could feel him tense ever so slightly against her.

Olivia leaned back again to look at him. "Maybe, what?"

"Maybe… If we got a place, y'know, _together_ …" he glanced at her sideways, "we could get a fireplace." She was silent, her eyes still on him, and he shifted in his seat a bit. "A real one."

Olivia looked down, playing with a pull in the fabric at the edge of her sweater. She swallowed thickly. "Do you think we're ready for that?"

Emboldened, Ed nodded. "It wouldn't be that much work, really." He ran his free hand over the coarse hair on the back of his head. "Just need to make sure we got the chimney swept regularly…"

"Not the fireplace, Ed…" Olivia couldn't help but laugh, nudging him with the back of her hand. "Living together," she clarified, looking up at him again before repeating herself. "Do you think we're ready for that?"

Ed sighed, moving on the couch so that he was facing her more than they were side-by-side, one hand still resting on her legs draped across his lap.

He hadn't come here with the intention of forcing her into any big relationship conversations. They'd been in a state of… transition, for lack of a better word; one that seemed to linger longer than he wanted it to. His new unit was more hours than he'd expected it to be; she was still shorthanded and feeling like she had to be there for her squad, as both player and coach… And with a toddler, time together to be a couple had been slim. But… through it all, he was still sure about _them_. Sure that they were a good thing. Sure that he loved her, and her son, as if he'd been with them every step of the way up until now…and sure that he wanted to be there for every step going forward.

"I think… I miss you and Noah," Ed rasped, finally.

"We miss you, too," she said softly. "But is that a good enough reason to live together?" She played with her sweater and took a deep breath. "I'm just afraid to uproot Noah if it's not—"

"It wouldn't be a good enough reason if it was the only one," Ed conceded, interrupting her. He grasped her hands in his, running his thumb along her knuckles while he put the right words together. "I just think…" Ed looked up at her. "I love you, Olivia. This feels right. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than wherever you and Noah are…"

"Ed…"

"I know it's been harder lately. We've both been so busy – but all that just makes me _more_ sure that at the end of the day, this is where I wanna be." He squeezed her hands and met her eyes, and the intensity she saw in his took her breath away. "With you."

"You make a compelling argument, Captain," Olivia teased.

Ed knew this was hard for her. Neither of them had stellar track records when it came to relationships. But they'd already defied so many odds just by being together – and staying together, despite all the obstacles that had been thrown at them already. He felt sure that they could conquer anything, having come through everything they had early on in their relationship.

In a lot of ways, they were still fighting for each other, only now the opponent wasn't some force _outside_ of them - it _was_ them. Their histories, their fears, their insecurities. They'd weathered a lot and come out stronger for it, but when they'd returned from Paris and the everyday struggles came to the forefront, it had been sobering to see how much they needed to keep fighting – every day – for _them_.

Maybe that was the wisdom they'd been lacking in prior relationships. Just because you get what (or who) you wanted, doesn't mean you stop working for it. And maybe they'd let that slip just a little bit, allowing their jobs and the ugliness of the world have a little more power than they should have. But whatever they had going, it still felt right to him. He still wanted to fight for her, for this happy ending that, despite the challenges in their history, seemed predestined for them.

It wouldn't have taken them this long to make their way toward each other if it wasn't meant to be.

"Look," he brought a hand up to her cheek, smiling softly when she leaned into his touch. He was encouraged by the fact that she wasn't freaking out, wasn't retreating, despite how uncomfortable he knew she was with conversations like this. "We don't have to decide anything tonight. I just want you to know I'm thinkin' about it…and maybe it's something you wanna think about, too?"

"I can do that," she promised him, leaning in and kissing him determinedly on the lips.

"Okay," he nodded. The conversation, surprising as it was, conquered, he felt himself relax a little deeper into the couch and into her. "Okay," he repeated. "What do you have planned for the kiddo this year? I know you didn't do much last year since he had no idea what was going on… Any traditions?"

Olivia smiled, kissing him once more as a thank-you for the subject change before settling into his side again. "No major traditions… I mean, I watch _A Christmas Story_ this time of year like it's a religion," she said wryly and Ed chuckled, remembering watching the movie with her several times the year before. "But my mom wasn't much for holiday traditions  & I was alone for such a long time after she died…I usually ended up working so people with families could be off…" She trailed off, her lips lifting in a smile when she felt him press a firm kiss to the top of her head. "What about you? Any Tucker family traditions?"

"Ah," Ed put his feet up on the coffee table and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, playing with the strands of her hair that had escaped her loose updo. "We used to do all kinds of things – midnight mass on Christmas Eve…my dad used to let us open a present each beforehand and my mom would always pretend not to notice." Olivia could hear the smile in his voice at the memory and she squeezed him a little tighter. "But my sister moved out of state for a while and when she came back, all the kids were grown… Just didn't stick."

"Life gets in the way sometimes," Olivia mused and she felt rather than heard his hum of agreement. Ed rested his cheek on the top of her head as they sat in a comfortable silence once again, soaking in each other's warmth.

Ed was not usually a touchy-feely guy and had never been much of a cuddler, but there was something about her that had softened him, and he'd long ago stopped trying to figure out what it was. She just had a quality.

Even he couldn't argue the perfect way they seemed to fit together, always.

##

Olivia was getting tired. It had been a long day & Noah had been in a mood all evening until she'd finally gotten him to settle down enough to go to sleep. The more she nestled into Ed, the more she knew she wasn't going to want to get up, and both of their backs would likely pay the price tomorrow.

Though her eyes were ready for sleep, her mind was buzzing with everything that had gone on tonight. If the visit had been unexpected, the conversation was even more so, but deep down, she had known it would only be a matter of time before one of them broached the topic of living together… It was the natural progression for them, the next logical step.

It scared her in that living with someone was a step she'd taken with only one other person, and she and Brian hadn't been able to make it work.

This time, there was more at stake. She had a son to think about. Aside from that hesitation, though, she couldn't deny that being with Ed felt right. Even on days where maintaining their relationship maybe wasn't as easy as it had been the day before, she still knew unequivocally she wanted to be with him. She wanted to fall asleep with him and wake up with him and watch her son fall in love with him more and more every day, just as she did.

"Maybe," she began, lifting her head to meet his tired eyes, "we can start some traditions of our own this year." Before giving him a chance to respond, she leaned in, feeling him smile against her lips as they got caught up in a kiss that seemed to take on a life of its own.

##

Later, after they given in to the fight against sleep and dazedly made their way back to her bedroom, after they stripped down to pajamas and crawled under the covers, she rested her head on his chest, and they had both nearly faded into oblivion when a noise from across the room jolted them awake.

"What was that?" Olivia murmured, propping herself up on her elbow beside him and forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Think it was a bag falling," Ed replied sleepily, clearly not alarmed. He pushed his head deeper into the pillow and gently used his arms to try to coax her back onto him. "In the closet."

Olivia let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a frustrated scoff before falling unceremoniously back against his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist, willing her heart rate to return to normal.

A few moments passed where neither of them said anything and Ed was almost sure she had fallen back asleep, but then he heard her muffled voice and felt her lips move somewhere around his ribs.

It took him a minute to make out the words, but once he did, he couldn't fight the smile that stretched his lips, and he pulled her closer so there was nary a millimeter separating her body from his.

"If you're gonna go overboard for Christmas every year, maybe we oughta get a place with some more closet space, too."

##


End file.
